DEALING WITH PUBLIC PERCEPTION THAT GREENHOUSE GAS TRADING PROVIDES POLLUTERS WITH A'GET-OUT-OF-JAIL-FREE' CARD

摘要

Greenhouse gas (GHG) trading (or carbon trading) has become a hot topic in the media in recent years due to the advances made within the Kyoto Protocol and the attention it has gathered in United States' politics. In addition to the many voluntary markets that have arisen in the United States (U.S.) in the last ten years, cap-and-trade programs have been proposed in the house and the senate; and prior to the elections in 2008, both presidential candidates voiced their support of such programs. Trading of GHG, whether voluntary or due to federal mandate, appears to be a market that will grow in volume of trade and product value within the U.S. for many years to come.rnBy design, GHG markets are intended to create market pressures that funnel the resources of a group that is committed to the reduction of GHGs towards the most efficient and economical means of reducing those emissions. Critics of GHG trading like to point out that much of the revenue generated by GHG offset projects are for projects that already exist or may have happened for non-GHG related reasons, and that the system does not sufficiently promote new or additional reductions in GHGs. Rather, they feel that the system provides a "get-out-of-jail-free" card to polluters. Another perspective can be offered that shows how, in addition to the potential for funding new GHG offset projects, revenues that are directed to existing projects can still incentivize additional GHG reductions that otherwise would not have occurred.rnThis paper presents offset project data from a landfill in the southeastern U.S. that shows how the current price of carbon in U.S. voluntary markets provides sufficient revenue to offset the capital cost required to expand the existing gas collection and control system (GCCS) for the facility. The original GCCS at this landfill was voluntarily constructed in 2003 to control potential odors. In 2006, this landfill expanded the GCCS with the addition of nine (9) vertical extraction wells, resulting in an increase in landfill gas (LFG) collection of about 390 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm). Currently, this landfill has carbon offsets that were generated from flaring of collected gas and verified using the protocol set forth by the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). The economic analysis compares the revenue generated by the sale of these offsets to the capital cost of the existing GCCS expansion and the consulting, registration and transaction fees related to the carbon trading. For discussion purposes, the possibility of funding a new GCCS using revenue from the sale of carbon offsets that are registered with registries/markets other than CCX will be analyzed as well. The intent of the analysis is to show the value of LFG offset projects (both new and existing) as a key player in the fulfillment of the intended purpose of the GHG trading market: the efficient reduction of GHGs using funds that otherwise would have been unable to produce such reductions in another industry.